Neighbor Dearest is LIVE and on
limited-time release sale for $3.99 (Changing to $4.99 after release. This will
be the ONLY sale.) A sexy STANDALONE friends-to-lovers story that does NOT have
to be read in conjunction with any other book.

“You think you know just about everything there is to know
about me, don’t you?”

“Not everything. But it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to
read you. It’s one of the things I like about you, though. You’re one of the
least fake people I’ve ever met.”

“Then, tell me. Why do you
think I was upset?”

“Honestly? I think you’re confused about me.”

“Confused…”

“Yes. I think you’re wondering why I opted not to have
dinner with you and instead ended up with a woman I’d literally just met,
someone who isn’t as sweet as you and sure as fuck isn’t as pretty as you. So,
you’re wondering what the hell I was thinking. Am I right?”

That’s
exactly what I was thinking.

He continued, “I know we haven’t known each other for very
long, but I do feel a connection with you, okay? If you’ve sensed something,
you’re not imagining it.”

“Well, if I wasn’t confused before…now I definitely am.”

“I feel like I need to say this now, because I can’t stand
the thought of you thinking that I somehow find you undesirable when it’s
exactly the opposite.”

I crossed my arms. “Again. Not following you.”

He closed his eyes as if to try to find the right words.
“It’s just that I know for sure that I can’t ever be what someone like you
needs in a boyfriend, in a partner. It’s not that we wouldn’t have fun or be
great together at first. I’m just not good for you in the long-term—not
marriage material. And the reasons are too complex to get into, except to say
that it has nothing to do with you and everything to do with me. I can’t, in
good conscience, start something with a girl like you.”

“A girl like me…”

“Yes. You’re not the kind of girl a guy takes home for a
quick fuck. You’re the girl he keeps.”

Right. Just
like Elec did.

About the Author:

Penelope Ward

Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall
Street Journal Bestselling author. She grew up in Boston with five older
brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor, before
switching to a more family-friendly career. She is the proud mother of a
beautiful 11-year-old girl with autism and a 9-year-old boy. Penelope and her
family reside in Rhode Island.